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Tuesday, February 17, 2009

According to an AP article published in several of today's papers, the recent crack-down on business travel by companies under economic duress may actually be a good thing for people looking to travel on their own time. The logic makes sense. Cities like San Francisco and Las Vegas that are used to bringing in millions of dollars every year from conventions are feeling the sting of a major slowdown. In turn, they're offering some amazing deals to leisure travelers to try to entice them to pick up the slack. A media rep for Priceline says the site's seeing winning bids at half-off retail prices for 4-star hotels in big convention cities across the U.S.

Admittedly, "big convention city" isn't exactly the most tantilizing description for a vacation spot. But, factor in that New York, Miami and New Orleans are all on the list and things start to sound a little better. And, hey, you might just discover an unexpected gem. A recent trip to Orlando (wasn't expecting much, to be completely honest) proved that there's life beyond Disney World in the inland Florida city. The Grande Lakes resort is an oasis worth checking out...